Device for shaking out laundry articles.



A. D. BEARMORE. DEVICE FOR SHA'KINGN LAUNDRY ARTICLES.

APPLICATION H ULY 30.1911.

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A. 0. BEARMORE. DEVICE FOR SHAKING OUT LAUNDRY ARTICLES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30.1917.

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Patented July 2, 1918. v

ALBERT I). BnAnnroaE, or rnovrnnnon, Rnonn ISLAND, nssIGrrOR TO TH wrrrona MARKING MACHINECOMPANY, or CINCINNATI, on o.

DEVICE SI-IAKING OUT LAUNDRY ARTICLE S.

Application filed. July 30, 1917. Serial No. 183,642.

a device for shaking out laundry articles, of

simple, durable and inexpensive construction. r

, More particularly it is my object to providea device including a supporting table having .a clamp member thereon, provided with a cushioning member and a rigid memher, so arranged that the rigid member may 3106 pressed against the c-ushionin-gmember for firmly binding and gripping a laundry article, and to provide in connection with such .clanip an operating mechanism whereby the clamp is normally held open and may be quickly moved to closed position by footoperatiomand may be locked in closed position. r p s A. further object is to provide as a part of said device a frame having a ,suppo rting member .over which laundry articles will be automatically folded and draped after having been gripped in the clampand stretched and released from the clamp.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the-device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as sliereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: V

Figure l showsa perspective view of a device embodying my invention, part vof the table being not shown.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical, sectionalview through the clamp.

Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of .my improved device, and

Fig. 4: shows a vertical, sectional view through the same, the foot operated mechanism being shown in side elevation.

In the accompanying drawings I "have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally a table. Mounted on the top of the table near one end thereof, is a clamp device comprising a transversely arranged 55 base member 11, on the upper surface of Specification of Letters Patent.

cushion clam-p member 12.

t ted ly .2. 1 1

.whioh is mounted a cushion member 12,

preferably arranged with its upper surface rounded or curved, as shown.- The entire cushion device may have substantially the form of a semicylinder with its fiat side .down.

Mounted on the table is a bracket 13 to which is pivoted .a movable arm- 14, at the outer end of which is a transverse clamp member which is slightly tapered toward its lower edge at 16 and is so arranged that in its lower position its tapered lower, edges engage the upper central portion of the Pivoted to the arm 14: and extending downwardly, is a l nk 17. Suitablypivoted at one end is a lever 18 extending away from the table as show-.11. The lower end of the link 17 is pivoted to the lever 18 between the ends thereof. Adjacent to the inner end of the lever 18 is a sector 19. Mounted on the outer end of the lever 18 is a bell crank lever 20, pivoted "to which is a ll'11l .2l,;eX

tending lengthwise along the lever 18 toward the sector 19. -Pivoted to the lever 18 near the sector 19 is a pawl 22to which the link 21 is pivoted. A spring 23 is mounted on the link 21 between a collar 2i fixed on the lever '18 and the pawl 22 for y-ieldingly holding the pawl 22 in engagement with the sector 19.- The lever '18 is wide enough at its outer end so that the foot of the operator may be pressed upon the bell crank lever 20 or may be pressed upon the lever without touching the bell crank lever 20.

IEhus when the lever 18 is in its raised position the operator may put his foot on the outer end of thelever 18 and lower itsfor drawing the clamp members 1-5 and -121to-7 gether, and the pawl 22 will automatically engage the sector for locking thei arts in any position in which they may be Xed.

The link 17 extends through an opening 25 in the table. Mounted on the "link 17 be tween the table and the arm '14: is a spring 26. When it is desired to release the clamp members, the operator presses on the bell crank lever 20 enough. to release :the pawl 2-2, whereupon the spring 26 will raise the wardly extending arms 27 which are connected at their outer ends bv a transverse member 28. The members 27 and 28 form a frame projecting away from the end of the table, for the purposes hereinafter. mentioned.

In the practical use of my improved device for shaking out laundry articles, a pile of flat work laundry articles is placed on the table 10. The first article is grasped and one edge thereof is placed upon the cushion 12. The lever 18 is then operated for locking the clamp members together. The operator then grasps the article and stretches and shakes it out, as shown in Fig. 1, with the article stretched above thetransverse frame member 28.

When the article has been stretched the operator places his foot on the lever 20 for releasing the pawl, whereupon the clamp members will separate and the operator simply drops the edge of the article which he holds.

In Fig. 3 I have shown one article 29 stretched and another article30 in its position along and over the member 28 after having been stretched. When the operator drops the article, the article will automatically fold downwardly over as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Thus it will be seen that after the garment or laundry piece has been well stretched and is dropped, it is stored or placed in suitable position to be taken up later on, and its edge adjacent to the table immediately moves entirely clear of the clamp so as to leave the clamp free for another operation.

My improved device for shaking out laundry articles has a number of advantages which may be largely seen from the foregoing description.-

Among others, attention is called to the advantage arising from the particular construction of the cushion 12. The cushion 12 consists of a resilient interior with a cover 31 of any suitable material. The cover is detachably secured to the member 11950 that it may be readily and easily removed for re placing itor cleaning it.

The arrangement and construction of the clamp members is such that the laundry article is firmly gripped between the clamp members, being pressed downwardly into the cushion, so that it is gripped along a considerable portion of its width and'will not slip from between the clamp members.

i It will be noted that the clamp members the member 28,

normallyv stand in separated position, but may be locked in any of their positions by means of the pawl' mechanism. The lever 18 is so arranged that it may be pressed without touching the lever 20, or when desired the lever 20 may be pressed sufficiently to release the pawl to permit the raising of the outer end of the lever 18.

The frame comprised of the members 27 and 28 affords a means convenient of access and cooperating with the clamp device in several ways. In the first place, if it is desired to thoroughly stretch the laundry article it will be seen that when one edge of such article is gripped between the clamp members and the farther edge therefrom is grasped by the operator, as shown in Fig, 1, the operator may lower the edge in his or her hands until the central portion of the laundry article is stretched over the member 28, whereby the stretching and shaking out of the article is facilitated.

The frame just described also furnishes a means for supporting the laundry articles in convenient position to be again taken up, and at such points that the articles automatically drop to such position when the operator releases one end of the article and the clamp members are released.

' Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangemnt of the variousparts of my improved device, without departing from the real spirit and purposes of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by the patent to be issued upon my application any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within the scope of my claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a device of the class described, a support, a, clamp member thereon, a movable clamp member, operating mechanism for said movable clamp member, and a frame, including a member arranged substantially parallel with said clamp members and spaced therefrom and adapted to be below a piece of laundry gripped between said clamp members and stretched to substantially horizontal position by an operator, whereby when the operator grasps the piece of laundry and said clamp members are released, the piece of laundr 1 will drop over said frame member.

Des Moines, Iowa, May 9, 1917.

ALBERT D. BEARMORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

